Lawyer: Greenville superintendent fired, but seeks reversal

Jeff Amy, Associated Press

December 1, 2016Updated: December 1, 2016 4:25pm

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The lawyer for Greenville Superintendent Leeson Taylor says the school board has fired Taylor, and that a meeting Tuesday with the school board was Taylor's appeal of that action.

School board President Loretta Shannon denies that is the case, saying an Oct. 31 letter sent to the superintendent only indicated that the board was considering firing Taylor.

Taylor has been on paid leave since Oct. 13, after a video emerged of a teacher dragging a student by the hair. Linda Winters-Johnson, the teacher, was fired, charged with a misdemeanor and could lose her teaching license.

Dorian Turner, the lawyer for the Greenville school board, wrote in an email to The Associated Press Thursday that board members "voted to move forward with termination of Dr. Taylor's contract" in a closed session on Oct. 31. She also characterized Tuesday's meeting as an "appeal hearing."

Turner declined to provide a copy of the Oct. 31 letter, writing it's a "personnel record that is confidential." State law provides some records are secret unless the employee involved consents to their release, although there is disagreement over what records the provision covers.

The AP was unable Thursday to obtain a copy of the board minutes documenting the Oct. 31 action.

Dorsey said evidence contradicting the termination letter was presented during Tuesday's closed session of the board, but declined to discuss it. He said Taylor's side of the story could become public if he files a lawsuit.

Teachers and principals can contest a decision to fire them in a public hearing before a hearing officer. However, the Legislature in 2012 took that right away from superintendents. Still, lawyers have advised school boards that they should provide some sort of appeal to help defend against possible lawsuits. In Taylor's case, the appeal to the school board was written into his contract, and Turner said it requires the board to notify Taylor of its decision within 10 working days.

Under state law, if board members have not already voted on Taylor's appeal, they would have to publicly schedule a meeting to gather and vote. Shannon wouldn't say if board members have already voted. Turner would only say no meeting is scheduled.

Shannon has said board members are unhappy because Taylor didn't explain the severity of the incident until a video was posted on Facebook and viewed millions of times. It shows Winters-Johnson dragging a special education student by the hair across the floor of the Greenville High School gym Sept. 21. A second video shows her striking the student with a cup. The school district fired her, and state officials have scheduled a Wednesday hearing on revoking her teaching license. She's also been indicted on a misdemeanor charge of abusing a vulnerable person and is scheduled to be arraigned as early as Dec. 13.

The criminal charge carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

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An earlier version of this story has been corrected to show the board attorney's last name is Turner, not Taylor.